Now bear with me here, because I am
not trying to turn this into another hate-her/love-her Lindsay thread, but I just wanted to mention it a bit more with regards to this post (my comments being centered more towards a desire to see Danny and Flack's relationship rather than my feelings about Lindsay as a character):
The writers missed a golden opportunity to show how deep a friendship this duo have when they didn't show Flack's reaction to Danny having his bagde removed in RSRD, maybe if they weren't so focused on D/L they wouldn't have missed this.
This is very true, not to mention the opportunity that they missed in the finale to show the friendship between Danny and Don (as has been mentioned many times before). The writers specifically had Danny show concern for the
cut on Lindsay's forehead, but then they threw away an excellent chance to show Danny's concern for Flack as he
lay in the hospital. Why? Because they felt the need to give Danny and Lindsay some more ambiguously-romantic dialogue. When time is at a premium, like it was in the finale, they really have to pay attention to all of the dialogue and weed out what's unimportant. They made sure to leave time for Mac to talk about his memories of Beirut, as well as to see him with Flack at the end. The result of this is that much of the rest of the episode felt rushed due to the time constraints. That I can understand, because Mac
is the main character after all. What baffles me is why, when so much of the latter part of the season seemed devoted to Danny and Lindsay 'flirting' with each other, during the few moments that they gave to Danny for dialogue in the hospital, they couldn't have chosen to have Danny say something like, "I'm going to stay too. Flack's always been there for me, and what sort of friend would I be if I abandoned him now?" Of course, I'm not saying that he should have specifically said
that, but you get what I mean. Instead of acknowledging a friendship that the fans can see from as little interaction as a glance (such as in "RSRD" in the hospital when Flack says they aren't going anywhere), they instead use the line to further the 'are they/aren't they' thing with Danny and Lindsay that has gotten so much attention throughout the season already (which, to me, shows exactly what the writers consider to be important on the show).
You know, my brain just keeps coming back to this stuff whenever I'm considering character development on this show. NY was supposed to be more character-oriented, and part of that is relationships between the characters. I find it very annoying that the writers chose to spend so much time and interaction to develop the 'romantic'
rolleyes
relationship between Danny and Lindsay. True, there were a few moments for Mac and Stella's friendship, particularly in the finale, and Don and Danny's friendship was given a bit of time, but for the most part the only real
developments have been to Danny and Lindsay's relationship. Not only that, but it all seems to be very pointed--as in, the writers are pointing out that there's 'romantic' potential here, etc (like the two couldn't just be friends and colleagues). I can understand having a romantic relationship on a show, but wouldn't it be more intriguing and unexpected to devote more time to a good old best-friends-through-thick-and-thin relationship? I can't think of too many of those on the television shows that I watch, but the reference to Friends is a good example. So much of what made that show great was the friendships between the characters. Now granted, CSI:NY is a crime drama and not a sitcom, but I think that's what would make it so interesting. Romantic relationships on these types of shows always seem limited to a few possible outcomes, so I don't feel excited at the prospect of seeing Danny and Lindsay's relationship become romantic. I would be
much more intrigued by the show if I knew that the dynamic between Danny and Flack was going to be explored. There are so many places that they could go with the friendship (and no, I'm not talking about slash between them,
that I'd much rather see in fanfic
). Friendships can have the highs and lows, laughter and tears, bonding-moments and arguments, just like a romantic relationship, but I suppose when it comes to a tv show like this, that old adage "sex sells" is always going to win out--they'll choose the romantic relationship over the friendship because of the promise of amorous encounters, which I think it just so sad when you consider what they've got here with Danny and Flack--whether it was intentionally developed or not, abandoning it would be such a shame. I still have hope for season 3 because it’s certainly not too late for the writers to concentrate on this friendship. The tendency at the end of season 2 was toward more character moments than we had during the majority of the season, so let’s cross our fingers that this is a trend that they’re going to continue next season (although hopefully without the overwhelming amount of personal tragedy). A friendship like the one between Flack and Danny provides such an important facet in character development, and one that I think is necessary if the writers want each of these people that they’ve created to seem more real to the audience.
Well, that’s the end of my rant.
Here's a pic to illustrate how much of Flack and Danny's friendship can be felt with just a
look.
